Grain-door.



No. 891,926. PATENTED JUNE 30 B. B. GILLBLAND.

GRAIN DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19. 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Inventor @W THE NORRIS PETERS co, WASNINGTUN, n. c.

E. B. GILLELAND.

PATENTED JUNE so, 1908.

GRAIN 1300a.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 19. 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Ffgll Ii I WIIlIIIIIII F! 5 6-4 47 57 ffgZ Inventor W W! tnesses No. 891,926. PATENTED JUNE 30, 1908.

' B. B. GILLELAND.

GRAIN DOOR.

APPLICATION rum) .19 190 Nov 7 s SHEETS-SHEET a.

0 ou o\ WITNESSES In uentor a? dj f 1H: NDRRIS PETERS ca., wAsmrvuwNfnic.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR B. GILLELAND, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, OF ONE-FOURTH TO DAVID BOLIGK AND ONE-FOURTH TO J.A. ROSEN, OF

TOPEKA, KANSAS.

GRAIN-DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 30, 1908.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR B. GILLELAND, a citizen of the United States, residing in Topeka, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Grain-Doors, of which the following is a specification.

'My invention relates to grain-doors for freight cars, of the vertically-sliding type adapted to be swung up against the roof of the car and hung by a carline hook when not in use.

The object of my invention is to improve generally upon grain-doors, to provide guides which are pivoted at the top of the car-door and which are adapted to be swung up against the roof of the car with the graindoor when the grain-door is not in use so as to not have any guides or brackets projecting from the door-jamb, to provide a simple, strong, and durable arrangement of the grain-door with a swinging guide of this kind, which may be operated with ease and without binding, and to provide the various parts and combinations hereinafter set forth more in detail.

My invention consists of an arrangement of a pivoted guide and a door slidably mounted thereon, so that the door and guide may be swung up against the roof of the car and suspended on the carline hook.

It further consists of a U-shaped rod having the upper ends of its legs pivoted to the door-cap and a grain-door mounted thereon so as to be slidable thereon vertically; it fun ther consists of a U-shaped rod having the upper ends of its legs pivoted to the doorcap and a grain-door mounted thereon so as to be slidable vertically thereon with bearings for the legs of the rod at the top of the grain-door and a slidable bearing secured to the horizontal portion of the rod with a vertical track on the grain-door engaged by said slidable bearing; and it further consists of the combinations hereinafter pointed out and claimed.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, and in the description of the drawings, I have shown my invention in its preferred form and have shown the best mode of applying the principles thereof; but it is to be understood that the invention itself is not confined to the exact details of those drawings and of that description; and that I contemplate changes in form, proportions, materials, and arrangement, the transposition of parts, and the substitution of equivalent members, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Figure 1 is an elevation View, taken from outside the car, of a grain-door made in accordance with my invention, sections of the legs of the U-shaped rod and of the door jainbs beingreinoved for convenience in illustration, and portions of the door-jambs being broken away in order more fully to disclose the grain-door and the mode of fastening it. Fig. 2 is an end view of the improved graindoor attached to the car, the near doorjamb being removed, and the grain-door proper being raised on its guide ready to be swung u against the roof of the car; the position 0' the grain-door when hung on the carline hook being shown in dotted outline. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the graindoor in part, through the line 3 of Fig. 1, showing the arrangement of one of the twin relief-doors. Fig. 4 is a view of the lower ortion of the door and one of the two hooks for holding the door up on the U-shaped rod. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of one of the reliefdoors, through the line 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the upper edge of the grain-door showing the arrangement of one of the bearing-brackets for the legs of the U-shaped rod; and Fig. 7 is a sectional view through the line 7 of Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is also a view of the upper edge of the grain-door showing the arrangement of the central vertically dis osed track on the face of the graindoor and t e central bearing for the rod; and Fig. 9 is a sectional view through the line 9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is an elevation view, taken from outside the car, showing the upper portion of the grain-door and all of the overlap door, the bearing brackets and other fixtures being removed. Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 show other methods of securing the hinge to the door cap.

Similar reference characters indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

12, 12 represent the door-jambs of a cardoor, and 13 is the cap.

14: represents a carline, and 15 is the car- Figs. 2, 11, and 12.

line hook which may be of the kind ordinarily used for supporting the inner end of the up-turned grain-door.

16 is the grain door proper, which may be of any suitable construction. I prefer to use a grain-door with the battens and braces arranged as illustrated in Fig. 1, with the end battens 17, 17, top and bottom edge-strips 18, 18, the middle battens 19, and the diagonal braces 20, 20, with the other reinforcements and braces hereinafter to be mentioned. Arranged at the top of the graindoor, one at each side, are the guide-rod brackets 21, 21, each having a hole therethrough 22 for engaging the respective guiderods 35, 35.

23 is a guide-way secured to the outside of the grain-door by rivets 26, 26, extending from top to bottom' of the grain-door and centrally disposed thereon, the upper end preferably projecting slightly above the upper edge to form a brace for the overlapdoor. This guide-way is substantially T shaped though by making it with the channel 24 and the flared edges 25, 25,the rivets may be set in the channel, and the guideway, or track, may be rolled, thus giving a more satisfactory track than the ordinary tee irons.

27 is a guide-way bracket adapted by its inturned edges 28, 28 to embrace said guideway or track, so as to be slidable up and down thereon; and the bracket is rather elongated so that it will not bind or turn sidewise. There is an opening. 29 through the guide-way bracket at right-angle to the guideway for engaging the rod 33 hereinafter to be referred to in detail. The bracket has an extension 30 with a hole 31 to be engaged by the carline hook as will be hereinafter detailed.

33 is a single integral rod of a U-shape, as illustrated in Fig. 1. The legs of the rod form the guide-rods 35, 35 for the graindoor, and the base 34 forms a continuous and rigid connection between the two guiderods across the front of the door and passes through the guide-way bracket 27, the guiderods passing through the guide-rod brackets 2 1, 21. The upper ends of the guide-rods engage suitable hinges 37, 37, respectively, by their overturned ends 36, said hinges being secured to-the car-door cap, in any suitable manner, as illustrated in various forms in The connecting rod fits snugly in the opening 29 through the guideway bracket 27, and the rod may be pinched 38, 38 on each side so as to prevent its movement through said opening. The guide-rods fit rather loosely in the openings 22. This arrangement of the brackets prevents the grain-door from binding, and from tending to turn sidewise on the guides, but admits of some slight range of action forward and backward, to fit the door snugly against the inside plates on the doorjamb, and to make allowance for various methods of hinging the guide-rods, etc.

When the door is down in place on the floor and against the door-jambs (as in Fig. 1), the guide-way bracket 27 is at the top of the door, and so too is the connecting rod 34. However, the same apparatus may be applied to a shorter door-way, the only difference being that the connecting rod and guide-way bracket would not have, when the door is down, quite so high a relative position. This adaptability of my grain-door to various heights of door-ways is an important feature of my invention. Guide-lugs 39, 39 may be placed on the face of the graindoor to engage the doorjambs, and thus prevent any lateral motion. And droplatches 40, 40 may be provided to be dropped into an opening 42, 42 back of the plate 41 on the inside of the door-jamb to hold the grain-door closely against the doorjamb while the car is being loaded.

An overlap door 42 may be hinged to the grain-door proper by means of hinges 43, 43, with elongated eyes 44, which permit the overlap door to settle down on the upper edge of the lower door and thus to take up the wear on the upper edge and compensating for splintering, etc. Preferably the overlap is provided with end battens 44, 44, a middle batten 45, and the diagonal braces 46, 46. The middle batten fits against the projecting upper end of the guide-way 23, whereby the overlap is prevented from bow ing outwardly in the middle.

I prefer to equip my grain-door with twin relief-doors arranged on opposite sides of the middle batten 19, as shown in Fig. 1. Each relief door 47 is fitted over an opening 48 through the body of the graindoor. Along the outer edge of each relief door is a brace 49. Metal strips 50, 50, 55, 55, are nailed to the batten and braces to form guides for the relief doors, the outer strips 55, 55 being extended upward over the diagonal braces 20, 20. Across the bottom of the relief doors is another metal strip 51, which acts as a further reinforcement. The relief doors are thus adapted to slide up and down in the guide-ways, their upward action being limited by the lugs 52, 52 turned down from the strips. I prefer to slant the braces 49, 49 slightly outwardly, and to shape the relief doors accordingly, so as to make a tight fit when the relief door is down, but permitting it to be raised without friction so far as its edges are concerned. The relief door being made usually of a single board, I reinforce it with a metal strip 53 which crosses its front, its edges, and partly around the back, being countersunk around the portions where the guide-ways are engaged, 54. 56 is an upedge of the door with his hand his fingers engaging the rod 34 near the hooks and drawing rod and door toward each other by the compression of the hands and fingers, thus permitting the rod to be free from the inner points of the hooks, and permitting the door to be lowered.

Obviously, where the grain is unloaded by the suction process, the relief-doors need not be used, though their resence in the graindoor is not objectiona le, and the arrangement of the braces and metal strips is a distinct advantage in the matter of reinforcing the door. Where the relief-door process of unloading is used, the main ressure behind the door may be relieved y opening the twin relief-doors. When the pressure is sufficiently relieved, the grain-door may be raised, as by hand-holds not here shown, the guides and brackets insuring a direct vertical movement of the door without binding. The operator may first raise the door until he can grasp the lower edge, then step back toward the middle of the car, and then skid the door up, the guides forming tracks for the brackets as bearings, thus relieving the operator of considerable dead weight. The whole apparatus, door and guides, may then be swung, on hinges 37, 37, up against the roof and secured by the carline hook 15 which engages the hole 31 in extension 30 of the guide-way bracket 27.

It will be readily understood that no alteration of the car door cap is necessary for the application of my grain-door, and that when the grain-door is swung up against the roof, the guides ,too are up, and no tracks, guides, or brackets of any kind are attached to the door-jambs to weaken same or to be in the way or take up space. It will also be noted that with my arrangement of the U-shaped rod to form the guide-rods and also the rigid connecting rod across the face of the door with the guide-way on the door and the guide-way bracket, the door may be raised and lowered thereon without binding or turning sideways, and with a minimum of effort on the part of the operator.

That I claim is:

1. The combination of a grain-door, a pair of guides hinged at the top of a car doorway, bearings secured to the upper part of the grain-door slidably engaging said respective guides, a rod rigidly connecting said guides below said bearings, a vertical guide secured to the grain-door, and a bearing secured to said connecting rod and slidably engaging said last-named guide.

2. The combination of a grain-door, a pair of guide-rods hinged to the cap of a car doorway, bearing brackets secured to the upper part of the grain-door slidably engaging said respective guide-rods, a rod rigidly connecting said guide-rods below said bearings, a vertical guide-way secured to the graindoor, and a bearing bracket secured to said connecting rod and slidably engaging said guide-way.

3. The combination of a grain-door, a pair of guides hinged at the to of a car doorway, bearings secured to t 1e upper part of the grain-door slidably engaging said respec tive guides, a rod rigidly secured to thesaid guides below said bearings, a vertical guide secured to the grain-door, a bearing secured to said connecting rod and slidably engaging said last-named guide, means for sustaining the grain-door on said first-namcd guides when the said grain-door is raised thereon, and an extension on said last-named bearing adapted to be engaged by the carline hook of a car.

4. The combination of a grain-door, a U- shaped integral rod the upper ends of its legs ivoted to the cap of a car-door, bearing Brackets slidably engaging said respective legs as guides and secured to the upper part of the grain-door, a vertical centrally disposed guide-way secured to the face of the grain-door, an elongated bearing bracket secured to the connecting portion of said U- shaped rod and slidably engaging said guide way and provided with an extension adapted to be engaged by the carline hook, and hooks secured to the lower portion of the grain door to engage the connecting portion of the U-shaped rod when the grain door is raised.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in presence of subscribing witnesses.

EDGAR B. GILLELAND.

WVitnesses:

O. J. RosnN, HAZEL D. RICHARDSON. 

